Early last week I first heard about “Harvey” when my brother sent me a text warning us that Houston was likely going to be hit with some heavy rain - an estimated 15 to 20 inches. He knows I’m not great at keeping up with the news, and wanted to make sure I knew what was coming. At that time I thought, about the typical tropical storm checklist: flashlights, extra batteries, pop tarts, and water. Just the basics (yes, pop tarts are basic hurricane food) to make sure we’d have a little “insurance” in case we went without power for a few hours.

A couple of years ago, we inadvertently created an Easter craft tradition. My parents had graciously offered to host Easter lunch at their house to make it fun and easy for the little ones. I was trying to help come up with activities, so I went to Michael’s and picked up some craft supplies for us to get into. Parker was the only one old enough at the time to appreciate it, but he LOVED coloring in his eggs. When Easter rolled around again last year, he was quick to ask us if we had our craft picked out… thus a tradition was born. We have some sweet memories and pictures of kids and adults gathered around the table working hastily away on cardboard eggs and bunny masks, so I thought it might be fun to share my favorite ideas for this year.

Getting out of the house for a big occasion was stressful when it was just me because I tend to over think things. Fast forward a few years, add three kids and a trip to “big Church” - that's a recipe for one snippy, overly-stressed, high-strung Momma. So, when it came time to have Cooper baptized, I had a little sit-down with myself because, no matter how frenzied things got, I did NOT want to go into “crazy Mom mode.”

As we get ready for the 2017 countdown, I can’t help but reflect over the last 12 months. So many good things happened in 2016. Our third child, Cooper, was born, we launched the Lattes & Living blog, and, most importantly, we have each other, but 2016 did not come without its struggles.

Sometimes it’s difficult to realize how blessed you are, or how much you have to be thankful for until you’re face-to-face with something B-I-G. Whether it’s positive, less than favorable, or even a little bit of both, often it takes a major life event for us pause long enough to let the “attitude of gratitude” wash over us.

Sometimes life goes just exactly the way you expect it to, and sometimes it doesn’t. I vowed to share “the good, the bad and the frenzied” with you, and today’s post is about what happens when things don’t go quite the way you hoped they would.